Aberdeen City Council is reducing the carbon footprint of its fleet with the introduction of a new hydrogen dual-fuel road sweeper.

The Butcher Municipal vehicle has been converted by hydrogen fuel specialist ULEMCo and is able to use hydrogen in both the primary and auxiliary engines.

A 6.6Kg on board hydrogen storage tank enables a second engine – provided by JCB – to power the sweeper’s brushes using hydrogen fuel, as well as the vehicle’s traction engine.

In this case, the approach will enable displacement rates of up to 40% of diesel fuel, and make a significant contribution to CO2 savings and reduced city pollution in real world applications.

This is the third hydrogen road sweeper that will be deployed in Aberdeen, facilitated by the Council in partnership between JCB, Bucher and ULEMCo. The work builds on the previous project supported by OLEV and Innovate within the Low Emission Freight Trial.

“This project is a powerful example of how companies can work together to deliver solutions that are available now, to help mitigate climate change through the use of hydrogen”, said Amanda Lyne, managing director of ULEMCo. “It provides an immediate solution for significant carbon emission reduction in this type of heavy-duty vehicle application that would be unaffordable or impractical with other low carbon technologies. We were really pleased to have the opportunity to work with both Bucher and JCB to deliver an improved product for ACC’s fleet team.”

“The significance of hydrogen fuel as an important alternative to carbon-based fuels is increasingly clear”, added Daniel Jackson, OEM engine sales and applications manager at JCB Power Systems. “We are delighted to support this initiative which will make an immediate contribution to improving air quality in Glasgow.”

“Deploying dual fuel conversions in ‘back to base’ utility vehicle applications like this allows us to offer our customers around the globe an immediate and highly practical option to reducing their emissions”, said Graham Howlett, UK general manager at Bucher Municipal.